Yankee Food in a Land Where the Crumpet Is King

By MARIAN BURROS

Published: February 1, 1989

LONDON—
A REUBEN sandwich with white Russian dressing? Buffalo chicken wings in a Tex-Mex restaurant? Welcome to London's version of Yankee cooking. Until five or six years ago American restaurants here mostly served hamburgers and pizzas. Now a more sophisticated assortment of edible Americana has invaded the English restaurant scene: somewhere between burgers and haute cuisine, it consists of British interpretations of American diners, steakhouses, delicatessens, even fine food stores.

Authenticity is another matter; Americans have little trouble distinguishing the real from the reinterpreted. The Formica counters and the steer horns may fool the eye, but the taste buds know. With a few exceptions, American cooking has lost its zest in translation. It is a mystery how the English did it, but even the chili is bland here. Robert Payton, an expatriate from Chicago, is credited by the local food establishment with introducing London to mid-level American food. The success of his theme restaurants - including Chicago Meatpackers, the Windy City Bar and Grill and the Chicago Rib Shack - has emboldened other entrepreneurs to open Tex-Mex places with names like the Alamo, Ed's Easy Diner and Mitchell & O'Brien's New York Deli, owned by an Englishman and a former New Yorker.

More expensive American restaurants have also made a splash: Fifty-One Fifty-One, a Cajun-Creole restaurant in a Bauhaus setting; Clarke's, where an Englishwoman, Sally Clarke, prepares her version of contemporary American food, and clones of two New York restaurants, Jams and Orso.

''Everyone has been influenced by American culture,'' said Bruce Isaacs, a partner in the three Ed's Easy Diner restaurants. ''It's all about the strong pound and the weak dollar,'' said Paul Levy, the food critic for The Observer. ''The British are getting their revenge on the dollar-rich Americans who used to come over here. Now we are sending our package tourists to Miami.''

They come back longing for the American food they tasted, the very food one gets on a package tour, which is far from authentic. The reasons for the lack of authenticity are simple: the ingredients are different, and so is the sensibility of the cook.

Sally Clarke has risen above both problems. She spent three years cooking at Michael's in Santa Monica, Calif., and said she is also indebted to Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. ''What I took from Alice Waters was the importance of using your own local ingredients,'' she said.

Miss Clarke has not made the mistake of combining British ingredients and hoping that the results taste American. Instead, her seasoning and her food presentation are guided by an American sensibility. For the English, it took some getting used to.

''It took my customers about six months to take to the cod with chilis and coriander,'' she said. Not to mention the accompanying lentils. ''In an English restaurant, it would have been served with mashed potatoes,'' said Kate Dyson, an English antiques dealer who was dining at the restaurant one evening in January.

To the American palate, the Cajun-Creole food at Fifty-One Fifty-One is a far less successful transplant. While not all of it is bland, it generally lacks complex seasoning and is seriously overcooked.

John Lederer, an Englishman who manages Fifty-One Fifty-One, said the restaurant takes liberties with the Cajun-Creole flavors to appeal more to British tastes, but ''draws the line at foods like the jambalaya and the gumbo that must not be altered.''

The first difference an American notices between London's newest New York deli and one in its native habitat is the absence of clattering dishes and loud voices. The second is the low lights. Mitchell & O'Brien's New York Deli has been described by one London newspaper as evocative of ''the sleazy sophistication of New York in the 1930's: an Edward Hopper vision.'' Americans might call it streamlined moderne; sleazy sophistication does not come to mind.

Rita Cruise O'Brien, the managing partner, is a New Yorker who has lived in London for more than 20 years. Before she and her partner, Parry Mitchell, a Londoner, opened the restaurant last fall, she toured New York's delis. Her cook should have gone with her.

The Reuben sandwich with white Russian dressing is theirs. A chef, Celia Sellschop, ventured a description: ''A recipe book said to use chili sauce, and that's the same as hot sauce.'' Mrs. Cruise O'Brien acknowledged that ''the dishes have been adapted in many ways, because we wanted to make the food accessible for people who don't know what it is.''

''If you can't have the real thing, it's O.K.,'' said George James, an American living in London. ''Their sandwiches are a lot better than English sandwiches.''

The deli owners learned the hard way that the British would not eat an American-size deli sandwich costing $10. The menu now carries American-size sandwiches called New Yorkers and smaller ones called Londoners.

To cater to English tastes, matzoh balls are studded with herbs, but the taste and texture bear no relationship to an authentic matzoh ball, either fluffy or hard. But the rich, moist cheesecakes come close to home.

To Mr. Levy of The Observer, this deli has ''gotten it right: it has elements of Lower East Side chic.''